News
Research focuses on relief for chronic pain
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| Frank Porreca, left, and Theodore Price work in a University of Arizona lab researching chronic pain issues. Photo by Ellen Sussman | Special to the Green Valley News |
By Ellen Sussman, Special to the Green Valley News
Two pharmacology Ph.Ds at the University of Arizona College of Medicine are devoting their research to the management and treatment of persistent and chronic pain, which they say can cause depression, sleep disorders, poor judgment and atrophy in the brain.
Frank Porreca, who earned his degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, and Theodore Price, who earned his degree from University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, are UA pharmacology professors.
Part of a pain research collaborative group of 14 at UA’s Department of Medical Pharmacology, Porreca and Price recently co-wrote an article about chronic pain in Scientific American Mind.
A focus of their research is in “opioids” and how indigenous molecules of certain narcotic drugs act on the central nervous system and how they relate to body-pain pathways.
“What actually happens that makes pain happen,” Porreca said rhetorically. “Why does a sprained ankle lead to chronic pain in some people but not in most?
“Your pain may be different from my pain from the same injury.”
Porreca said there is not an age range where chronic pain is more prevalent, but said migraine headaches tend to occur earlier in life and mostly to women.
Chronic pain may be due to changes in one’s immune system or, in women, due to hormonal changes.
How is pain treated when there is no known illness or injury?
Price said prescribed drugs are based on symptoms, but why one drugs works well on one person and not on another is still something researchers are working on.
“There is no definitive answer,” Price said.
In their Scientific American Mind article, Porreca and Price refer to “allodynia” — when a light stimulus such as fabric, wind or shower water causes pain to the skin of some but not to the majority of people.
Porreca explained it as “increased sensitivity to stimuli” such as the collar of a shirt causing pain due to sunburn on the neck or sensitive skin touching a rough sheet.
Determining the most successful way to treat chronic pain for a specific individual takes trial and error, Price said.
“In general, medications are very effective, but they don’t work for all patients. Many come with serious side effects,” Porreca explained.
The major findings of Porreca and Price’s research continue to focus on neuropathic pain and the molecular composition that drives pain.
“Labs have developed targets for better treatments and are hoping to develop drugs that modify disease,” Price said.
Porreca said, “The expectation of pain relief changes the experience of pain...” i.e. if a person has a headache and takes two aspirin or ibuprofen they can handle the pain better knowing relief is on the way.
A goal of the ongoing research “is to treat the patient before pain happens.”
As Porreca, Price and their collaborative group continue to search for the biological bases of chronic pain and solutions for them Porreca said, “Pain is imminently treatable in most cases... it may take trial and error.
“Pain is real. If there’s skepticism by your doctor, find another doctor. Pain should be treated with the outlook for one’s optimum quality of life.”
Contact Green Valley freelance reporter Ellen Sussman at ellen2414@cox.net.
Frank Porreca, who earned his degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, and Theodore Price, who earned his degree from University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, are UA pharmacology professors.
Part of a pain research collaborative group of 14 at UA’s Department of Medical Pharmacology, Porreca and Price recently co-wrote an article about chronic pain in Scientific American Mind.
A focus of their research is in “opioids” and how indigenous molecules of certain narcotic drugs act on the central nervous system and how they relate to body-pain pathways.
“What actually happens that makes pain happen,” Porreca said rhetorically. “Why does a sprained ankle lead to chronic pain in some people but not in most?
“Your pain may be different from my pain from the same injury.”
Porreca said there is not an age range where chronic pain is more prevalent, but said migraine headaches tend to occur earlier in life and mostly to women.
Chronic pain may be due to changes in one’s immune system or, in women, due to hormonal changes.
How is pain treated when there is no known illness or injury?
Price said prescribed drugs are based on symptoms, but why one drugs works well on one person and not on another is still something researchers are working on.
“There is no definitive answer,” Price said.
In their Scientific American Mind article, Porreca and Price refer to “allodynia” — when a light stimulus such as fabric, wind or shower water causes pain to the skin of some but not to the majority of people.
Porreca explained it as “increased sensitivity to stimuli” such as the collar of a shirt causing pain due to sunburn on the neck or sensitive skin touching a rough sheet.
Determining the most successful way to treat chronic pain for a specific individual takes trial and error, Price said.
“In general, medications are very effective, but they don’t work for all patients. Many come with serious side effects,” Porreca explained.
The major findings of Porreca and Price’s research continue to focus on neuropathic pain and the molecular composition that drives pain.
“Labs have developed targets for better treatments and are hoping to develop drugs that modify disease,” Price said.
Porreca said, “The expectation of pain relief changes the experience of pain...” i.e. if a person has a headache and takes two aspirin or ibuprofen they can handle the pain better knowing relief is on the way.
A goal of the ongoing research “is to treat the patient before pain happens.”
As Porreca, Price and their collaborative group continue to search for the biological bases of chronic pain and solutions for them Porreca said, “Pain is imminently treatable in most cases... it may take trial and error.
“Pain is real. If there’s skepticism by your doctor, find another doctor. Pain should be treated with the outlook for one’s optimum quality of life.”
Contact Green Valley freelance reporter Ellen Sussman at ellen2414@cox.net.
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